Cullen Mistakes
by Sara K M
Summary: Canon. Set about five years after Breaking Dawn. Renesmee makes a big mistake when she breaks several family and school rules. But that's only the beginning of the mistakes the Cullen's make, as Carlisle and Edward struggle with who and how should they punish Renesmee? Some Carlisle/Esme and Edward/Bella moments included as well.


CULLEN MISTAKES

 **Disclaimer: I don't own** _ **Twilight.**_

 **For those of you who are waiting for more "Young Love in Old – Fashioned America," don't worry. It's coming. But in the meantime, I thought I write another canon one – shot.**

 **Whether you believe Carlisle and Esme use disciplinary spankings or another form of punishment, I think we can all agree** _ **they**_ **are the ones who usually discipline the Cullen "children." But that got me to wondering, who would discipline Renesmee when she misbehaves? How would they handle it?**

XXXXXXXX means POV change.

OOOOOOOO means time change.

The Cullens had just moved to Mansfield, Pennsylvania in the last two months, but everyone agreed it was a pretty good location. The town was small enough for Uncle Jasper to be less bothered by his thirst and Dad to not have to worry about so many minds to listen to. It was close to a few state forests and a national forest as well, so the hunting was alright, too.

Personally, Rensemee kind of liked New Hampshire better. When the Cullens lived there, Renesmee lived in an apartment with just Mom and Dad. Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett, Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper, and Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle all lived nearby. So did Jacob Black. Now we live all under one roof in a big house. Grandma Esme constantly talked about how happy she was that we were together again. But honestly…Renesmme thought it was annoying. Instead of just Mom and Dad watching my every move she had _six_ people "looking after her!"

"Where are you going, Nessie?" Uncle Jasper would ask me.

"Be careful, Nessie," Aunt Rosalie would warn me.

"Have you been doing your homework?" Grandma Esme would ask.

"Are the other kids at school treating you well?" Mom would ask. That was _one_ nice thing about Pennsylvania. Renesmee was finally able to go to school with other kids. My family had decided my growth rate was slowing enough to enroll me in Middle School. And they agreed it was important for me to learn to "assimilate" like the rest of them. School was kind of boring, considering Renesmee had been reading Shakespeare and Dad's science books for years. But at least Renesmee had other kids her age to spend time with.

The only other good thing about Pennsylvania was that Jacob was living with us, so Renesmee could see him more often. Jacob was fun. He looked out for Renesmee without pestering her, somehow.

OOOOOOOOOO

Tuesday started off like any other day. Mom and Dad dropped off Renesmee at school before heading to the high school themselves. "Do you have everything you need in your backpack, Renesmee?" (Mom and Dad were the only ones who called her "Renesmee.")

Renesmee sighed. "Of course. Grandma already checked it."

"Did you _have_ to wear those pants, Renesmee?" Dad asked, shaking his head. "They look too tight."

 _That was the point,_ Renesmee thought too quickly, looking down at them. All the girls wore tight jeans to school these days. Unfortunately, Renesmee had a father who can read her mind. Somehow she was always forgetting that. As soon as Dad heard _that,_ he turned the car around. "Then you won't be going to school anymore! Grandma can teach you at home."

"But Dad, didn't you guys agree I had to learn to "assimilate?" she protested.

"Not if it's going to teach you bad habits!" Dad snapped.

"Edward, you _need_ to calm down, or you'll brake your steering wheel. You don't want anything to happen to your car, do you?" Mom asked pointedly.

Dad just grunted, but he did calm down a _little_. Dad loved his car almost as much as he loved Mom and Renesmee. "Now, I know those pants seem, _inappropriate_ , but we can't just pull her out of school right now, Edward. We'll have to talk about it tonight. And Renesmee, if you want to continue attending school, I suggest you dress more conservatively after this."

Dad sighed, but eventually turned around and drove back to my school. Mom could calm Dad better than anyone Renesmee knew.

But Renesmee still _hated_ that she couldn't wear these pants to school anymore. Did my parents have _any idea_ how girls were treated when they _didn't_ dress like this? Obviously not. Aunt Alice might be able to explain it to them, but even _she_ could be overprotective of Renesmee. Renesmee was so _tired_ of having so many people tell me what to do! It was like watching over me was my families' favorite hobby. For _all_ of them.

At lunch, she forced down a sandwich as she talked to her new friends Amy and Beth. (Renesmee still didn't like human food much, but she supposed it was worth it if it meant Renesmee could eat lunch with her friends.) "This morning, my Dad told me I couldn't wear these pants anymore!" she complained.

Amy shook her head. "My mom tried that on me, too."

"You could always change your pants when you get to school," Beth suggested.

Renesmee shook her head. "It might work for you, but it wouldn't for me. My backpack gets checked every morning." _Not to mention a father who can read my mind_ , she added to herself.

"It's the pits," Amy agreed. "Between parents and teachers telling us what to do all the time, they're no time to _live_."

She nodded. That's exactly how Renesmee felt. Then out of the corner of my eye, she saw the back fence that blocked the school yard from a sharp hill. Jacob had told her how much fun he and his friends had cliff diving back in Forks… "Do you guys want to _live_? For real?" Renesmee whispered.

Amy nodded immediately.

"What did you have in mind?" Beth asked.

Renesmee smiled sneakily. "Follow me," she whispered, slowly walking to the back of the cafeteria where we wouldn't be seen. Once the bell rang for lunch to be over, Renesmee opened the door slowly and led my friends outside. "See this fence," she commented, pointing. "Wouldn't it be a thrill to climb up it and slide down the hill on the other side?" The fence was at least ten feet tall.

"I don't know," Beth replied nervously. "I think that fence is there for a reason. What if we get hurt?"

Renesmee rolled my eyes at her. "The _only_ reason it's there is because some adults are trying to tell us we can't do something again! Come on, where's your sense of adventure?" She began climbing the fence herself.

"Nessie's right," Amy agreed, climbing as well.

"Okay," Beth finally agreed as well.

She reached the top a lot quicker than her friends did. Renesmee had to resist the urge to simply jump onto the ground. She had to remember that kind of jump wasn't possible for a twelve year old human girl. So Renesmee climbed the other side of the fence instead.

Just as her friends were nearly at the top of the fence, we heard a loud voice. "Girls!" We turned our heads to see the principal, Mr. Schroder. Amy and Beth almost fell in surprise. Renesmee felt slightly guilty about that. She was so busy trying to show adults they couldn't tell us what to do, she forgot my friends didn't have the same coordination and abilities that she had. They could have easily been injured. It had been a mistake.

Mr. Schroder agreed with me. "Come down right now! Carefully. You'll be lucky if you don't break something! And then you're all going to come with me to my office!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOOO

Carlisle was in his study, examining books, medical journals, charts, and letters, as he had been doing for several hours. The nice thing about working nights at his newest hospital was that he had plenty of time for research projects. Last month, one of his colleagues had asked him if he wanted to help research new medicines for transplants. He was a bit unsure at first, because he didn't want to attract too much attention to himself, and transplants research got attention. But recently, Carlisle had talked about it with Esme, and they agreed it wouldn't be too hard to give the credit to the other doctor. That way, Carlisle could enjoy the research, potentially help more people, and avoid unnecessary exposure.

Carlisle picked up another book and compared it to the journal he was reading. The journal was more accurate, obviously, considering it was newer, but some of the information in the book was still good.

He was just about to pick up another journal when there was a knock at the door. "Carlisle, there's something you need to see," Esme's voice told him.

He got up immediately. "What is it, darling?" Carlisle asked as he opened the door. She didn't look happy.

Esme handed him a written note. "This was in Renesmee's bag today."

 _Nessie was home already?_ Carlisle thought to himself. He must have been more involved with his research than he had thought. He immediately walked over to his granddaughter to greet her.

"Hello, Nessie. How was your day?"

Nessie shrugged.

"Read the note, Carlisle," Esme instructed.

 _Dear Mr. and Mrs. Cullen,_

 _I regret to inform you that your daughter, Renesmee broke several school rules today. She and two other students skipped their afternoon classes and climbed a ten – foot tall fence on the edge of school property. This fence is_ not _to be climbed on and the students know this. It is dangerous. Furthermore, that fence blocks off a steep hill with rocks on the bottom that they could fall into. For this instance, Renesmee has earned herself a week's worth of detention after school._

 _Sincerely,_

Harold Schroder,

 _Principal_

After Carlisle finished reading the note, he couldn't believe how disappointed he was in his granddaughter. To willfully violate school rules like that? Not to mention the very serious possibility of exposure by performing a stunt like that. Add to it that they were never 100 % just how indestructible Renesmee was. After all, she _was_ half human. They constantly told her if she wanted to do anything adventurous, another family member should be present to watch her. _How could she?_ Carlisle asked himself. _To just not_ care _like that?_ After all, she _knew_ it was wrong! Carlisle was actually becoming _angry_ , a rare thing for him.

"Carlisle?" Esme asked, squeezing his arm suddenly. "You haven't moved in five minutes."

Carlisle sighed and shook his head. "I just can't believe Renesmee would do something like this, Esme. I mean…she knows better! I should…I think…" he tried to think of an adequate punishment.

"Sweetheart, don't be _too_ hard on her," Esme warned him. She squeezed his arm again.

Carlisle looked at Esme sharply. "Esme, she _has_ to be punished. This was a _very_ serious mistake. I mean…" Carlisle felt his anger well up again.

Esme shook his head. "I _know_ that, Carlisle. I just mean, I may know something about why she did it."

 _That_ was one of the strangest things he had ever heard Esme say. How could she possibly have any idea why their granddaughter would do something like this? It made no sense!

Esme shrugged. "I climbed a tree instead of a fence, but it was the same basic concept. I did it partly because I was tired of being told what to do. Perhaps…Nessie has the same problem."

Carlisle smiled as he remembered the innocent sixteen year old he'd met a hundred years ago. Esme _had_ complained that her mother made too many demands on her. "But surely we don't demand that Nessie does more than her share of the work, Esme. I don't think that's the problem. I think she was just being careless and irresponsible." His anger stirred in him again

"It was just something to consider. But regardless, Carlisle, you need to calm down before you talk to her. Why don't you find yourself some small game nearby?

He sighed. Esme was right. He shouldn't discipline a child while he felt like this. He could make a mistake. Carlisle squeezed her arm and whispered, "I'll be back soon."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Fortunately, Carlisle was able to find a deer quickly. On the way home, he tried to think of an adequate punishment for Renesmee's behavior. A common punishment for his other children was to take away their driving privileges. Obviously that wasn't an option for Nessie, so what else? Grounding, perhaps? Of course, Nessie didn't go many places on her own. Except for outings with Jacob. Maybe _that_ could be the punishment. She would be forbidden from such outings for the near future. He hoped Esme would approve of the idea.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

OOOOOOOOO

It was rather odd to be back in high school again, after Edward just finished some pre – medical training at Dartmouth. He had been hoping to try medical school. However, being a husband and a father was a relatively new experience for him, and Edward found he needed to focus more on Bella and Renesmee. High school could get boring, but at least he didn't have to worry about it taking any time or mental energy. His family always came first. Edward certainly didn't want to miss any of his daughter's moments. Pennsylvania had several colleges around the state, too and Carlisle had suggested Edward might try medical school again, after Renesmee was all grown up. He and Bella would have been married for several more years by then as well.

For now, it was nice to be living all together again. Most of my time was spent with Bella and Renesmee, but Edward loved seeing his siblings all the time, too. And Esme was even happier that all of her children were home for her to take care of. Over all, it was the best arrangement. This afternoon Edward was enjoying time with his brothers, (and Jacob was there, too) as we engaged in wrestling just off the school campus. We could have gone home, of course, but it was kind of difficult to _really_ wrestle with Esme nearby. Even though she knew they were indestructible, she was always watching, like she was waiting for someone to get hurt.

Fortunately, their wives did _not_ have the same problem. If anything, they seemed to find watching their husbands wrestle…a little arousing. In fact Bella, Alice, and Rosalie had all heard about our plans and had come to watch. Knowing their wives were watching made the three of them _even_ more competitive. It took them a couple of hours before it finally ended. When it did, they didn't even really care who won and who lost, because all their wives attacked them with kisses.

"Mmmmm Edward, that was so hot," Bella moaned as she finally released my lips.

"I think your even worse," he whispered to her, covering her neck with kisses.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" Bella whispered, rubbing he hands all over him making it clear what she was implying.

He _did._ Bella was extraordinarily tempting, almost worse than her blood when she was a human. No one would be surprised if we did, either. After all they hadn't even been married for ten years yet. Not much time by vampire standards. It also didn't surprise Edward that Emmett and Rosalie had already left (at least they _left_ before they started this time).

But…Edward felt we needed to see Renesmee. They had already waited all afternoon. "Bella, can we…hold off until tonight?" he asked with difficulty.

Bella groaned.

"Renesmee?" Edeard reminded her gently.

Bella sighed. "Your right." She took my hand and we walked to his other "baby," his car. Alice and Jasper had decide to take her new Porsche for a spin, so went home by ourselves.

As soon as I was near the house, Edward was bombarded with troubling thoughts. _At least she seems to realize she made a mistake,_ Esme thought.

 _I still can't believe it_ , Carlisle thought. _Climbing a ten – foot fence._

 _At least they didn't know_ I _talked the other girls into doing it._ Renesmee thought.

It took him about thirty seconds to realize what had happened today. Renesmee climbed a ten – foot fence by _herself_. Not only that, but she convinced a couple of other girls to do the same thing! Did she have any idea how dangerous that was? For her and for our family? There was still a possibility she could be hurt. But even if she wasn't she may have been exposed to humans.

He entered the house at vampire speed. "Renesmee!" Edward bellowed. "What. Happened. Today.?"

"Well…Dad…you…see…" she began slowly.

"I'll tell you what happened! _You_ climbed a ten – foot fence without a family member watching! Not only that, but you did in front of _humans!_ In fact it was _you_ who convinced the other girls to come with you and climb the fence as well. Renesmee _what_ were you thinking?"

"She also skipped her afternoon classes in order to climb this fence," Carlisle added, sighing.

"Renesmee, why would you make such an idiotic decision? I thought you were a _smart_ girl. Well, that's it! You will no longer be attending school! And the next family baseball game that we have, you will be staying home! Hopefully, you'll be smarter after that." _How could he say that?_ Renesmee thought.

"Easy," Edward replied to her.

"Edward…" Bella protested, as she came into the house. But Edward ignored her; he knew what he was doing.

"But Dad! How could you? Grandpa Carlisle already told me I couldn't go out with Jacob for the next week. You can't punish me _twice_ like that. And Dad…" she huffed and ran upstairs.

Suddenly Edward turned on Carlisle. _"You_ punished Renesmee? Already? Without even _asking_ me first? Carlisle _I_ am her father. That responsibility is mine! I thought you told me I deserved to be Renesmee's father." Edward couldn't believe he would do such a thing. He turned and hit his fist into the wall by mistake.

"Edward! Be careful with my house!" Esme scolded him.

Carlisle sighed. "I'm sorry Edward, but you are correct. I made a mistake. However, if I may…the way you punished her wasn't the best."

Edward looked at the floor. What did he mean?

"Edward, go talk to Carlisle for a while," Bella suggested softly.

"Come," Carlisle commented to me, standing up. "We'll go hunting."

OOOOOOOOOO

Edward tracked down a deer. "You shouldn't punish a child well you're angry, Edward," Carlisle began after Edward finished.

"Why not?" Edward replied. _Shouldn't I show Renesmee how much her actions bothered me?_

"Because you can say things that hurt a child's feelings while you're angry," Carlisle replied. _Like when you said her decision was idiotic and you thought she was smart. You made it sound like you thought your daughter was stupid._

Edward hung his head. "Of course I don't think Renesemee is stupid! She's increadible."

Carlisle shook his head as he pounced on a deer himself. _I_ know _that, Edward. But Nessie might question it, because of what words you used earlier._

"Okay, so I made a mistake," he admitted. "I'll apologize to Renesmee when we go home. But she still did something reckless for her _and_ the other girls."

"Agreed," Carlisle replied, wiping the small bit of blood off his mouth. "And she should be punished. But make sure you have a clear head first."

Edward sighed. He doubted that would work for him. "Carlisle, holding my temper…it doesn't come easily for me like it does for you. I don't see how that's possible for me to do."

Carlisle smiled at Edward. "I know Edward." _But there are things you can do to make easier. Make sure you hunt before you attempt to punish her, for example."_

Edward nodded. That made sense.

"And if I may…we've all noticed that Bella has a positive effect on your temperament. Perhaps if she's with you when you talk to Nessie?"

Edward shook his head. He didn't like the idea of Bella witnessing Renesmee's punishment. "I think that might be hard on Bella."

Carlisle sighed. "It's up to you. But Bella should be in _agreement_ of your punishment, at least. Esme and I always make sure we agree on punishments, even if we aren't both present to give them."

Edward nodded. "So why did you give Renesemee a punishment without talking to _me_ first?" Edward hoped Carlisle didn't doubt his abilities as a father. He had told him before he thought Edward was a great father, but now Edward wondered. Maybe Carlisle considered Edward too much of a child to be a father himself

Carlisle sighed again. "Like I said, Edward, it was a mistake on my part. I was so used to giving punishments to all of you, I forgot that wasn't really my responsibility when it came to Nessie. It doesn't help that Renesmee is playing the part of Esme and my adopted daughter in this town. The note from the school was addressed to _me_." His memory flashed to the moment he'd read the principal's letter. It seemed that Renesmee had detention after school for the next week. Assuming she was returning to school, that was.

OOOOOOOOOOO

As they arrived home, Edward heard Esme and Bella talking with Renesmee about the situation. It seemed it wasn't as simple as they'd thought before. And Carlisle was correct. Renesmee was upset because it sounded like Edward thought she was stupid. "Renesmee, your father didn't mean it that way," Bella tried to explain. "You know how his temper gets to him." _Thank you, Bella_ , Edward thought to himself. Sometimes he thought Bella could read _his_ mind, she knew him so well. It seemed that protecting his wife from witnessing Renesmee's punishment wasn't an option anymore. Still, Bella seemed to be handling herself well. Edward really needed to stop underestimating her.

"Yeah, I know," Renesmee sighed. _It's just I always thought Dad was so proud of me. Reading all those literature and science books. Studying the piano with him._ _It_ hurt _hearing him imply I was stupid._

Edward rushed into the house at vampire speed for the second time today. "I'm _so sorry_ , Renesmee." he told her, giving her a big hug. "I never should have said something that would hurt your feelings like that, even if it _was_ just because I was angry. You'll always be my brilliant little girl, no matter what."

"Thanks, Dad," Renesmee replied.

"But, that being said, skipping school and climbing that fence, especially with those other girls, that wasn't a very _smart_ decision," Edward continued seriously. "You'll still have to be punished."

Renesmee looked at the floor. "I know. I made a mistake. I broke a lot of rules. And I could have really hurt my friends, by talking them into climbing the fence with me."

"Tell your father and your grandfather what you told us, Nessie," Esme prompted in her gentle way. "About _why_ you decided to do it." _So Renesmee was still trying to come up with an excuse for her behavior_ Edward thought to himself, his temper rising a little again. But the rest of the family seemed interested in hearing her. After all, it was Esme who suggested she tell us. So he sat down next to Bella on one of our sofas and she took his hand. Carlisle was right. Bella helped control his temper _a little._ Carlisle sat next to Esme and wrapped his arm around her in his subtle way.

Renesmee sighed. "I _know_ I made a mistake. But…I was just so _tired_ of people hovering over me and telling me what to do. Do you know how much pressure it is, to have _six_ people older than you, watching your every move? "Be careful. Don't do this. Make sure to do that. Are you sure you're all right? Ahhh!" As she talked Edward saw flashes of Bella and him, as well as Carlisle and Esme, _and_ Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett all taking care of her the best we could.

"But we do that because we love you," Edward protested. "We want to protect you and take care of you."

Renesmee shook her head. "I understand, Dad. But it's still _too_ much for me to handle all of you breathing down my neck. And with the teachers at school telling me what to do, too…it got too much." Pictures of teachers telling her to go to class, not to talk while the teacher spoke, and do her homework appeared as well.

Edward nodded. "Maybe it's for the best if you don't go back to school, then."

Renesmee shook her head violently. " _No_ Dad. I admit, the teachers bothered me today. But generally…they're actually less of a problem than my family is. Probably because the teachers have seventy – five students to take care of, and you guys only have me."

 _That's debatable_ , Carlisle and Esme thought at the same time, thinking of the trouble the rest of the children sometimes got into.

"I _really_ want to stay in school, Dad. Please?" Renesmee pleaded.

"It…might be better to keep her in school, Edward," Carlisle commented. "If we pull her out, it might look like we don't approve of the punishment the school decided on for her breaking _their_ rules."

Edward nodded. That was possible. Of course, it would be Carlisle and Esme who would be implicated in that case, as Renesmee's legal guardians in this location. But Edward would never want his parents to be implicated for something _he_ decided…even if it was supposed to be a punishment for his daughter. (Parenting a child who legally belonged to _his_ parents was harder than he'd thought it would be.)

"Besides, Renesmee _still_ needs to learn how to assimilate with humans, Edward," Carlisle continued calmly. "I know she didn't do a good job today. _At all_ ," he added sternly to Renesmee, in case she didn't understand how serious _he_ was about her behavior today. "But if we don't allow her to try again, how will she learn?"

It was a good argument.

"Besides, some of the fault belongs to us. Renesmee was right. Our family was putting too much pressure on her. _I_ remember feeling stifled because of my parents' rules when I was a young human, and I only had _two_ caregivers." An image of a young Esme climbing a tree flashed through her mind.

Edward sighed. "How about this," he suggested. "You may return to school, in which you _will_ serve your detention. But the next baseball game we play, you _won't_ be able to come. And you are also unable to go on outings with Jacob until the next week. Does that sound reasonable?"

Bella nodded from beside Edward.

Carlisle nodded as well. "I think that's a good punishment, Edward."

"All right, Dad. I guess that's okay," Renesmee agreed.

"That's fine. But I think we should also try not to hover over Renesmee so much," Esme added.

Edward didn't see how that was possible, in his case, but Esme probably had a point. "We'll try," Edward agreed.

The other three adults nodded. "I'll let the rest of the family know as well," Carlisle commented. "We all made mistakes today, after all."

The other nodded. _That's true,_ they all thought.

Edward smiled. "I'm glad that's settled." He was. Being Renesmee's father was one of the greatest joy's in his life. And Edward wanted to be one of the best. That included the tough things, like punishing her for wrong doing. But he was still _so_ grateful to have had the best father to teach him. And better yet still be available to correct Edward's mistakes. _"Thank you Carlisle,"_ he whispered.

 _You handled that well this time, Edward. Just like a father_ , Carlisle replied, smiling. Edward smiled back. It looked like he wasn't too much of a child for Carlisle to see him as Renesmee's father at all.


End file.
